Public sector teachers continued their protest Wednesday, mounting pressure on the government to improve the 5 % wage offer.

Teachers at at least four schools staged sit-ins, while teachers at one institution staged a lunch hour protest Wednesday, demanding that government put a double-digit wage increase on the table.

This follows a series of sit-ins by teachers at some schools Tuesday.

The Jamaica teachers association confirmed to Irie F.M. News, that teachers at Hayes Primary and Junior High in Carendon staged a lunch hour protest, while teachers at Clarendon College; Buff Bay High in Portland and Cornwall College in St. James staged sit ins.

The teachers are adamant that a 5% wage increase will not be sufficient to cushion the effects of the harsh economic climate.

At the Hayes Primary and Junior high school in Clarendon, teachers gathered at the school gate, chanting for better wages, while bearing placards.

Traffic reportedly came to a halt, as motorists stopped to get a glimpse of the action being taken by the educators.

One teacher told Irie F. M. News that her colleagues have to make far too many sacrifices to be fighting this hard for a reasonable pay increase.

The teachers have rejected the 5 % wage increase offered by the government, and are requesting a 25 % increase, over two years.

The JTA will continue wage talks with government at a meeting Thursday.

The association’s president Doran Dixon says he hopes good sense will prevail at the talks, and that teachers will be updated on the negotiations at parish meetings in Portland, St Mary, St Thomas and St James on Friday.